Browse Exhibits (72 total)
Highlights from the Ruth and Lyle Sellers Medical Collection
Originally exhibited February 1, 2016 – July 1, 2016
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
This exhibition celebrates the recent acquisition by Bridwell Library of the Ruth and Lyle Sellers Medical Collection, transferred to Southern Methodist University from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas in 2015. The collection of six hundred printed books and manuscripts was assembled by Dr. Lyle M. Sellers (1894–1964), Chief of the Otolaryngology Department at the Baylor Medical Center from 1946 to 1963 where the volumes were originally donated in 1963. In 2001, for purposes of improved preservation, one-hundred of the rarest manuscripts and early printed books were placed on long-term deposit at Bridwell Library, where they have been researched, cataloged, exhibited, and made available for study by SMU students, faculty, local researchers, and visiting scholars. With the 2015 transfer, Bridwell Library is the sole owner and caretaker of the collection.
One of the finest private libraries ever created in Dallas, the Ruth and Lyle Sellers Medical Collection includes works in the fields of early medicine and science, natural history, religious ceremony and private devotion, and nineteenth-century English and American literature. In highlighting selections from each of these collecting areas, Bridwell Library honors Dr. Sellers and his vision for a collection of rare books and manuscripts "believing that proper educational progress rests upon belief in God and knowledge of the arts and sciences – my personal library has been developed as an expression of my goal and guidance of the complete, modern physician.”
Illustrated Suites, Sequences, and Sets
Originally exhibited April 26– August 10, 2010
Entry Hall
Introduction
Bridwell Library holds a wide range of illustrations in books and manuscripts created in various locales and time periods. The images in these volumes offer readers both aesthetic pleasure and graphic information which complements textual content. This exhibition focuses on printed illustrations which were intentionally created as coherent series of images. Included are suites of engravings, entirely engraved books with image and text included on the same plate, illustrated sequences of woodcuts and engravings in printed books, and sets of prints in publications intended for children. All were published between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries in continental Europe, England, or Mexico.
Several of the publications are biographies, a genre particularly well-suited for image sequences which highlight episodes in the lives of religious figures. Subjects here include the life of Jesus and the lives of saints, martyrs, and hermits. Other narrative accounts with illustrated series delineate the Stations of the Cross, the order of the Mass, and the origins of the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain. The variety of publications on display also includes works for children that incorporate sets of illustrations based on episodes in the Bible. Created as educational tools, these images are an integral part of the work, purposefully included to attract and maintain the interest of youngsters beginning their study of scripture.
For readers of all ages, these illustrated series provide an opportunity to engage with publications beyond textual reading and to discover the potential of printed works in which the use of images is a primary focus and an essential element. Beyond the written word and the embellished page, these images educate and edify, simultaneously providing viewers with information and the opportunity for spiritual reflection.
In honorem: Dr. Richard P. Heitzenrater
Originally exhibited May 16–August 22, 2014
Entry Hall
Introduction
This exhibition honors the work of Dr. Richard P. Heitzenrater, recipient of the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from Southern Methodist University in May 2014. Dr. Heitzenrater is the William Kellon Quick Professor Emeritus of Church History and Wesley Studies at Duke University Divinity School and was a member of the Perkins School of Theology faculty from 1977 to 1993 as the Albert Cook Outler Chair in Wesleyan Studies and the Director of the Center for Methodist Studies. He also had a close connection to Bridwell Library, twice serving as Acting Director (May–October 1980 and June 1992–May 1993).
Renowned for his research and writing in the area of Wesleyan studies, Dr. Heitzenrater has the distinction of being the person who broke the shorthand code of John Wesley’s diaries. Dr. Heitzenrater has utilized rare books and manuscripts held by Bridwell Library throughout his distinguished career. Pairing works written by Dr. Heitzenrater with items from Bridwell Library Special Collections, the exhibition highlights the long-term relationship between researcher and library.
Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library
Originally exhibited August 8, 2016 – December 16, 2016
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
Surveying the wide range of manuscripts in Bridwell Library Special Collections representing the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic traditions, this exhibition includes items produced between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries in numerous locations throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The array of texts, languages, letterforms, illuminations, and illustrations provides evidence of both known and unrecorded scribes, artists, readers, and owners as well as insights into the cultural, historical, bibliographical, and aesthetic contexts in which these manuscripts were created.
These works both complement and supplement printed holdings in significant collecting areas for Bridwell Library including scripture and worship, devotion, theology and church history, and religious instruction and study. Focusing on these genres, Bridwell Library continues to build a diverse and instructive collection of manuscripts, many of which demonstrate how handwritten books and documents remained essential facets of religious and intellectual life following the introduction of printing in Europe in the mid-fifteenth century.
Invention and Discovery: Printed Books from Fifteenth-Century Europe
Originally exhibited February 2–May 3, 2010
Introduction
Since 1962, Bridwell Library has built one of the finest collections of fifteenth-century printed books held in America. Numbering more than one thousand volumes, Bridwell’s collection of pre-1501 imprints is not merely a gathering of early typographic specimens. It is a rich and wide-ranging library of fifteenth-century reading material that reflects the mainstreams of European theological and humanist thought during the Renaissance period. Based on Classical, Christian, and medieval traditions, the early printed editions represented here helped lay the spiritual and intellectual foundations of the modern age.
This exhibition presents sixty books and broadsides printed between c. 1455 and 1500. The selections highlight unique copy-specific characteristics that focus attention on the various ways in which Europeans in past centuries discovered the power and potential of Gutenberg’s invention. Early readers were not content to leave their books exactly as they came off the presses, but were inclined to engage in their contents mentally and to intervene in their appearance physically. Employing local artisans to provide rubrication, illumination, and bindings, readers added their own annotations, inscriptions, and other signs of ownership and use. As a group, the exhibited items reflect the active participation of countless individuals in the initial spread of printing across Europe.
Jean Calvin (1509–1564): A Quincentenary Exhibition
July 14–December 8, 2009
Entry Hall
Introduction
The sixteenth-century theologian and reformer Jean Calvin exerted immense influence on the character and practice of Western Christianity. Born in Noyon, a small town in the Picardy region of France, Calvin was educated at the Collège de Montaigu in Paris and completed his law studies at Orléans in the early 1530s. His Institutio Religionis Christianae (“The Institutes of the Christian Religion”), the first published systematic statement of Reformed theology, appeared in 1536 and was followed by four revised and expanded editions issued during his lifetime. Settling in Geneva, Calvin promoted the Reformation both locally, through ecclesiastical discipline and the introduction of vernacular catechisms and liturgy, and internationally by means of his numerous publications. The influence of Calvinism was particularly strong in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, and among the Puritans in England, Scotland, and colonial North America.
Central to Calvin’s reforms was the primacy of scripture in faith and practice, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and benevolence in Christ, and the necessity of discipline within the Church. His theological knowledge, exegetical skills, and clear and precise writing style contributed to his success promoting the transformation of the Church and to his status, along with Luther, as the most significant author of the Protestant Reformation. He produced a large and important body of writing including the Institutio Religionis Christianae; translations of the Old and the New Testaments; commentaries, sermons, and lectures on the Bible; polemical works; and an immense body of correspondence. This exhibition commemorating the quincentennary of Calvin’s birth provides a brief introduction to the man and his work through his translation of the Bible and commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, English editions of the Institutio Religionis Christianae, and images of the author.
Lead Stealing the Danse Macabre: Changing Roles & Identities in the Modern Dance of Death
Originally exhibited September 12–December 16, 2022
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
In the Middle Ages, the Dance of Death presented a message of radical equality. The figure of Death came for everyone: wealth, power, and status offered no protection. Furthermore, Death came on its own schedule, for young and old alike. While in some cases, Death may have been represented as the recently deceased—remnants of flesh clinging to the corpse and perhaps even bearing a face—Death most often appears as a purely skeletal form.
The Dance of Death was predominantly interpreted through a Christian lens that cautioned everyone to abandon their obstinacy and live a life of faith. But the figure of Death itself presents no distinctly Christian attributes. It is not an Angel, and it seemingly takes joy in escorting—or dragging—its charges. The identity of Death presents us with a number of questions: is it a supernatural force or merely an abstraction? We can say that for centuries Death was shown and viewed as external to humanity and human concerns. It acted in spite of the positions or efforts of people.
In contrast, artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries blur the distinction between Death and its human victims. Death appears at times to be a constant presence among people. Death may walk amid the crowd, dressed like everyone else. People themselves can bear the facial characteristics of Death. Perhaps most dramatically, humans are themselves depicted as the active agents of Death. They ensure their own demise through folly and vice. They cause the deaths of others through acts of cruelty and war. The concerns and causes of death on a large scale multiplied across the twentieth century and into the beginning of the twenty-first. Genocide, fascism, economic inequality, and climate change have all come to represent existential threats and implicated human responsibility. Yet, some works offer hope in the recognition of responsibility that allows for other choices. And Death may not always be an enemy, but a chance for renewal.
Mandalas: Dean Joseph Quillian.
Originally exhibited May 4–August 19, 2018
Entry Hall
Introduction
In addition to being a pastor, professor, and administrator, Quillian was also a talented amateur artist. As a young person he started drawing freehand doodles in notebooks and on scraps of paper. Most of the designs featured a “love knot” motif, also known as “Solomon’s Ring,” in the center. In the 1950s Quillian started surrounding his square and diamond-shaped drawings with circles. In the 1970s Quillian began to add color to his drawings, a process usually done at home as a relaxation technique.
Through the writings of Carl Jung, Quillian learned that his “circles by a square” were mandalas. The mandala, literally circle in Sanskrit, is an ancient Hindu and Buddhist graphic art form representing the cosmos. According to Jung creating mandalas is a symbolic way of bringing order out of chaos and achieving unity in life. To Quillian drawing geometric designs was an unconscious form of self-expression. He found that giving his hands a task to do while attending meetings and conferences siphoned off excess energy and allowed his mind to focus more clearly on the topics of discussion.
This exhibition presents examples of Dean Quillian’s drawings dating from the 1940s to the 1970s. These graphic designs and other documents from the life of Joseph D. Quillian, Jr. are preserved in the archives at Bridwell Library.
Manuscripts in the Islamic Tradition
Originally exhibited September 4 – December 13, 2013
Entry Hall
Introduction
Islamic manuscripts comprise an important part of Bridwell Library’s representation of the world’s religions. Dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, the exhibited manuscripts include magnificent copies of the Quran and later collections of prayers that long have been central to the religious lives of Muslims. Featuring fine paper, beautiful calligraphy, colorful paintings, rich illuminations, and ornamental bindings, these books also reflect the outstanding craftsmanship that has characterized manuscript production within the Islamic tradition.
Martin Luther in the Age of Print
Originally exhibited August 7– December 15, 2017
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
Commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the announcement by Martin Luther (1483–1546) of his Ninety-five Theses against indulgences, and the beginning of the Reformation, this exhibition serves as an introduction to the reformer and his printed works. After attending university in Erfurt, Germany, Luther eventually focused on theological study, entered the Augustinian order in 1505, and was ordained two years later. In October 1512 he received his doctorate in theology and joined the theology faculty at the University of Wittenberg, a position he would retain throughout his career. The dissemination of his critique regarding indulgences began an extraordinary publishing career that reflected his multiple roles as a theologian, preacher, teacher, and translator. The various genres represented in this exhibition include polemics and treatises, sermons and commentaries, Bible translations, and catechisms.
In addition to his immense impact on Western Christianity in the early modern period, Luther also greatly influenced the world of print in sixteenth-century Europe. A remarkably prolific author, he published more than twenty-five hundred editions of his German works, not including the various editions of his German Bible. Often first appearing in Wittenberg, his books were frequently reprinted in Leipzig, Erfurt, Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Strasbourg. These established printing centers provided additional distribution of his works while Latin translations further increased his readership.
Exploring different printed contexts for Luther’s works, this exhibition includes Bibles and indulgences produced prior to Luther’s own publications as well as pre-seventeenth century Catholic responses to Luther and the early Reformation during his lifetime and after his death. This combination of Luther’s publications and those of his adversaries provides insight into the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation and the divisiveness engendered by this quest for religious reform as witnessed in the age of print.
Missionary Presses
Originally exhibited August 29 – December 5, 2014
Entry Hall
Introduction
This exhibition highlights Bibles and other religious texts in indigenous languages published by missionary presses in the nineteenth century. Printed throughout the world in a variety of languages and letterforms, these translations were disseminated for local use as an integral element of conversion efforts by various denominations. Reminders of the numerous difficulties of communicating across cultural, theological, and linguistic boundaries, these works testify to the series of collaborations between translators, native speakers, and printers whose combined efforts created the sacred and instructional works here on display.
Monuments of Early Greek Printing
Originally exhibited December 14, 2018–May 20, 2019
Entry Hall
Introduction
The influence of Greek language and literature on modern culture is as profound as it is underappreciated. The widespread use of Latin throughout much of European history tends to obscure the Greek origins of seminal literature. But much of the scripture, history, and mythology with which people are familiar today originated in Greek texts. These survived because of scholars and theologians who endeavored to preserve works from destruction, collecting and copying them by hand and teaching others to read and appreciate their lessons.
The dissemination of classical Greek literature and Byzantine scholarship was greatly advanced by the advent of printing with movable type in Europe in the fifteenth century. Printers in Italy were especially significant in the promotion of classical education, aided by an influx of Greek scholars fleeing centers of learning such as Constantinople and Thessaloniki in the Byzantine Empire as it fell to the Ottoman Empire. While the New Testament was originally composed in Greek, and the Old Testament was first translated into Greek in the third century BCE, the earliest printed editions of the Bible employed the popular and authoritative Latin of the Vulgate composed by Saint Jerome in the fourth century. The Bible was not printed in Greek until the sixteenth century, when editors and printers competed to publish the first editions.
Many landmark Greek publications from the early decades of printing today reside in North Texas. The first printed publication of a work in its original language is referred to as the editio princeps. Many of the items in this exhibition claim this title. In some cases the work displayed is one of a small number to have been printed and known to exist today. Thus, this selection offers a glimpse into the richness and significance of materials accessible for study and appreciation at Bridwell Library Special Collections.
Peter Schoeffer: Printer of Mainz
Originally exhibited September 8–December 8, 2003
Entry Hall
Introduction
After Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1397–1468), Peter Schoeffer was the most influential individual in the early history of printing in Europe. Born about 1425 in Gernsheim, near Mainz, educated at Erfurt University, and trained as a calligrapher in Paris, Schoeffer had become involved in the new art of printing by 1455, serving as an employee of Johann Fust of Mainz, who was then financing Gutenberg’s “work of the books” – doubtless the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. As Gutenberg’s helper, later as Fust’s junior partner, and finally on his own, Schoeffer remained at the forefront of Europe’s printers for the better part of five decades, producing an impressive array of essential theological and legal editions. Before his death in 1503, he had done more than any other to introduce important publishing innovations and to set technical standards that would shape the history of the printed word.
This web-exhibition presents selected highlights from Peter Schoeffer: Printer of Mainz. A Quincentenary Exhibition at Bridwell Library, displayed from 8 September to 8 December 2003.
Religious Emblem Books
Originally exhibited August 29–December 8, 2017
Entry Hall
Introduction
Religious emblem books engaged readers with linguistic and visual puzzles in order to convey both Christian doctrine and moral lessons. The combination of symbolic images, poetic epigrams, and narrative explications found in emblem books was utilized in the creation of meditations, catechisms, calendars, and histories. Authors believed that readers better absorbed corrective and inspirational lessons through the active construction of meaning in the process of deciphering coded messages. Entertaining and occasionally sensationalistic in their imagery, emblem books drew upon biblical, mystical, mythological, and scientific sources to create evocative scenes. Although most popular during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the genre continued to be published well into the nineteenth century.
Remembering Alfredo Náñez y Clotilde Falcón de Náñez
Originally exhibited May 20, 2016 – August 7, 2016
Entry Hall
Recuerdos de Alfredo Náñez y Clotilde Falcón de Náñez
Por más de cinco décadas, los graduados de Southern Methodist University (SMU) Alfredo Náñez (1902–1986) y Clotilde Falcón de Náñez (1908–1998) siguieron una vida compartiendo su ministerio como líderes de la iglesia, educadores, autores, traductores, y abogando por un entendimiento intercultural. Alfredo Náñez fue ordenado como ministro de la Iglesia Metodista Unida y sirvió como pastor y Superintendente del Distrito en la conferencia anual Río Grande. Un educador y administrador talentoso, Náñez sirvió como presidente de la Institución Lydia Patterson y también como el fundador y director del programa México-Americano en Perkins School of Theology. Clotilde Falcón de Náñez fue una profesora muy respetada, educadora Cristiana, autora y traductora la cual llevó a cabo posiciones de liderazgo dentro de la Sociedad Femenil de Servicio Cristiano. Desde 1964 hasta 1968 servió en la División de Mujeres de la Junta de Misiones de la Iglesia Metodista.
Esta exhibición honra la memoria de dos figuras significativas en el Metodismo de Tejas y la historia México Americana Metodista presentando evidencia de sus vidas la cual se conserva archivada en la Biblioteca Bridwell.
Traducido por Betsy Careaga.
Se procesaron los papeles de Alfredo Náñez y Clotilde Falcón de Náñez en 2016. Una guía a la colección puede consultarse en línea en
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00279/smu-00279.html.
Remembering Alfredo Náñez y Clotilde Falcón de Náñez
For more than five decades, Southern Methodist University graduates Alfredo Náñez (1902–1986) and Clotilde Falcón de Náñez (1908–1998) pursued a life of shared ministry as church leaders, educators, authors, and advocates of cross-cultural understanding. Alfredo Náñez was an ordained United Methodist minister who served as a Pastor and District Superintendent in the Rio Grande Annual Conference. A gifted educator and administrator, Náñez served as President of the Lydia Patterson Institute and as the founding director of the Mexican American program at Perkins School of Theology. Clotilde Falcón de Náñez was a respected teacher, Christian Educator, author, and translator. She held many leadership positions in the Woman’s Society of Christian Service and served on the Women’s Division of the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church from 1964 to 1968.
This exhibition honors the memory of two significant figures in Texas Methodist and Mexican American Methodist history by presenting evidence of their lives as preserved in the archives at Bridwell Library.
The papers of Alfredo Náñez and Clotilde Falcón de Náñez were arranged and described in 2016. A finding aid to the collection can be accessed online at
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00279/smu-00279.html.
Science and Religion
Originally exhibited December 8, 2009–April 24, 2010
Entry Hall
Introduction
Books have played a central role in the ongoing dialogue between science and religion since the beginning of written communication in the West. Scientific authors of the Classical past were relatively successful at gaining official approval of their writings, and their authority was accepted implicitly by medieval Christian scholars. However, conflicts arose both as Renaissance scientists developed new methods of empirical testing and as the printing press allowed the rapid circulation of new ideas without Church endorsement. Revolutionary theories about the nature of the universe and humanity’s place within it set many leading scientists in opposition to the conservative positions of the Church. While many scientific works were placed on the Index of Prohibited Books, science was not necessarily anti-religious. During the Enlightenment, many important works of science were inspired by a desire to reconcile the tenets of the Christian religion and the new scientific explanations of earthly and heavenly phenomena.
The books in this exhibition fall into four categories: works that show the cooperative sharing of scientific texts between religious groups; scientific treatises by leading medieval church officials; writings in which scientists and the clergy came into direct conflict; and publications intended to reconcile biblical teaching and scientific method.
Six Centuries of Master Bookbinding at Bridwell Library
Originally exhibited: February 9–April 29, 2006
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
The fiftieth exhibition in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries at Bridwell Library was the first devoted entirely to historic bookbindings. Selected for their beauty, quality and historical interest, these bindings exemplify the important stylistic developments of European and North American bookbinding from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The exhibit is not intended to be comprehensive but as an introduction to the most splendid and well-made bindings owned by Bridwell Library. Included are works by binders from England, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and the United States. This digital exhibit is a sampling of the bindings shown during the gallery exhibition in 2006.
Symbiosis of Script, Font, and Form
Through March 31, 2022
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Symbiosis of Script, Font, and Form: A Selection of Artists’ Books is a look at books from Bridwell Library Special Collections in which artists or circles of collaborators have integrated corporeal elements of the book form into the literature in sensitive and sometimes astounding ways.
Discernable amid the plant fiber paper, vellum, oil and pigment pastes, linen thread, tanned leather, and other material of floral, faunal, mineral, or synthetic origin, is a responsive environment that seems to bloom at each opening. In some books the precise arrangement may have been decided from the beginning and only required crafting. For others the makers may have begun with a vision less arrant, and used artistic and artisanal processes to discover what lifts the book above its substance. Regardless the finished book will offer words that can be spoken and heard, paper that can be weighed in the hand and felt on the fingertips, ink that is forever as rich on the page as it had been on the press, geometry that cuts through the book page by page, a flow of alphabetic characters familiar and then seen for the first time, all enmeshed, all bound in organic synthesis, together surpassing any individual contributions.
The exhibited selections are in no way comprehensive as an array of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artists’ books. No particular thread in the history of printing or Western book arts was tracked. No succession of artists was deliberately followed. Rather, each book was included for its own sake, on its own terms, in its appeal to human hands, minds, and spirits.
Jon Speck and Rebecca Howdeshell, co-curators
The Albert Cook Outler Papers
Originally exhibited February 2 – May 1, 2015
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
The Albert Cook Outler Papers comprise the largest and one of the most significant archival collections at Bridwell Library. Dr. Outler (1908–1989) was a world-renowned theologian and Wesley scholar who served on the faculties of Duke University (1938–1945), Yale University (1945–1951), Perkins School of Theology (1951–1979; professor emeritus 1979–1989), and Texas Wesleyan University (1983–1984).
Outler’s professional library and personal papers were donated to Bridwell Library through the advocacy of Rev. Bob W. Parrott. From 2010 through 2014 library staff processed the Albert Cook Outler Papers in order to make the collection more accessible to the public. Archival processing includes arranging materials into thematic or format-based units called series; removing redundant and out-of-scope materials; addressing preservation needs; and publishing a finding aid that describes the collection’s subject, history, arrangement, and contents.
Through this exhibition Bridwell Library is bringing Albert Outler’s intellectual legacy to the attention of a new generation of scholars and church leaders.
The Archives at Bridwell Library
Originally exhibited February 1, 2017–June 30, 2017
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
Archives are groups of historical records documenting the activities of organizations and the lives of individuals. Archives are also the repositories that house such records. Bridwell Library is an archive of many archives where researchers may access more than half a mile of archival materials documenting the history of the Methodist movement.
The historical records owned by Bridwell Library comprise three closely-related archives: the Perkins School of Theology Archive, the Bridwell Library Archive, and the Methodist Studies Archive. Additionally, four United Methodist bodies lodge their archival materials at Bridwell Library in order to enhance both preservation and access. The archivists of the South Central Jurisdiction, the North Texas Annual Conference, the Rio Grande Annual Conference, and the Texas United Methodist Historical Society work closely with the archivist of Bridwell Library to manage the most extensive set of Methodist-related primary resources in the Southwestern United States.
The archival program at Bridwell Library serves the historical research community by collecting, preserving, arranging, and describing historical records; promoting awareness and facilitating use of the archival collections; assisting researchers in person and remotely; curating exhibitions; and making presentations to university classes and outside groups. This exhibition explores the diversity of archival records held by and hosted by Bridwell Library.
The Art Collection at Bridwell Library
The acquisition of display collections at Bridwell Library has sometimes been more serendipitous than intentional. In 1950 when the School of Theology library moved from the north end of the SMU campus to the facility funded by Joseph Sterling Bridwell in the newly-built Perkins School of Theology a number of objects could not be stacked as neatly as the books on shelves. In particular, The A. V. Lane Museum which included the archeological collection gathered by its namesake as well as ethno-cultural artifacts added to it by others, was best housed in permanent vitrines. Used in the Old Testament curriculum, the objects also were popular with undergraduate students and in the larger community as Bridwell became a destination for area school tours.
In the years that followed friends and supporters met a need to enhance study rooms and collections as they offered artifacts, framed drawings, prints, and paintings, sculptures, fine furnishings and decorative arts, and objects for religious use. As wall and collection space filled gift acceptance became increasingly circumspect. (Today’s practice is to add display items only when direct support of the library’s mission or to existing collections can be demonstrated.)
A facility renovation completed in 2022 provided an impetus to display selections from the eclectic collection to an extent not seen in the previous thirty years. The following online component of this display, available upon the scan of a QR code posted near each object, provides context to works throughout the building. Note: some items are located in areas of the building off-view from the public. They are available only by special arrangement.
The Dance of Death
Originally exhibited December 16, 2016–May 20, 2017
Entry Hall
Introduction
Reflections on death and its meaning for Christian communities have taken many forms in art and literature. During the Middle Ages a genre called the Dance of Death developed which depicted a personification of death leading a procession of people ranging from kings to paupers, emphasizing the mortality of all persons regardless of social status. The genre included poetry, prose works, and visual art. While individual works sometimes focused exclusively on images or literature, many included both. This exhibition features images popularized in print by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) and explores the artist’s possible inspirations and his influence on subsequent illustrators.
The Eighth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2018
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Tish Brewer, The Center for Art Conservation
Bexx Caswell-Olson, Michigan State University Libraries
R. Arvid Nelsen, Bridwell Library
Ellen Buie Niewyk, Hamon Library, SMU
Priscilla Spitler, Recipient of the 2015 DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding
A PDF of the catalog is available here.
The 2018 commission book is volume four, Apocrypha, of The English Bible Containing the Old Testament & the New, published in Hammersmith by the Doves Press in 1903–1905. The competing designs and sample book bindings, as well as the bindings commissioned during past competitions, are included in this exhibit. The Doves Press Apocrypha, bound as issued, and volumes II, III, and V of the set in design bindings, are also in this year’s display.
Apocrypha, volume IV
Apocrypha, volume IV, from The English Bible Containing the Old Testament & the New. Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1903–1905.
The term “apocrypha” means “hidden things” and is used to specify writings outside of the canon of the Old Testament and New Testament. The Doves Press Apocrypha volume includes Jewish religious writings dating from approximately 300 B.C.E. to 70 C.E. Originally issued in five volumes, this set is lacking volume I. The three other volumes have been rebound as follows: Volume II, Second Samuel through Song of Solomon, bound by Hugo Peller in 1986; Volume III, Isaiah through Malachai, bound by Don Etherington in 1988; and Volume V, The New Testament, bound by Courtney Sheehan in 1986.
The Doves Press, founded in 1900 by Emery Walker (1851–1933) and Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840–1922), was a leading producer of fine press books. Conceived as a revival of the craftsmanship of the pre-industrial age, the Doves Press Bible is considered the firm's finest publication, combining exquisite typography and clarity of design. Bridwell Library Special Collections holds two complete sets of the Doves Press Bible printed on paper in addition to this incomplete set, and one of only two sets ever printed on vellum. The vellum set was once owned by Emery Walker, and is bound by Katharine Adams.
The Fifth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2009
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Michael Collins, private book collector
Celia Warren Fowler, niece of Helen Warren DeGolyer
Daniel J. Slive, Head of Special Collections, Bridwell Library
James Tapley, commission winner The Fourth Triennial Helen Warren DeGolyer Award, 2006
Thomas Taylor, designer and printer Goodbye to a River, 1989 Book Club of Texas edition
Goodbye to a River
John Graves (1899–1986). Goodbye to a River: A Narrative. Austin: Book Club of Texas, 1989.
Goodbye to a River: A Narrative recounts the author’s “farewell” canoe trip along a stretch of the Brazos River in Texas during the Fall of 1957. Fearing that planned construction of a series of dams soon would change the Brazos irrevocably, Graves set out to experience its natural beauty one last time, accompanied only by his dachshund.
An inspiration to generations of environmentalists, the book won the Carr P. Collins Award of the Texas Institute of Letters in 1961 and was nominated for a National Book Award. The success of Goodbye to a River is believed to be a major reason that only three of the proposed thirteen dams were built on the Brazos. The 1989 Book Club of Texas edition of Goodbye to a River was limited to 550 copies, designed and printed at the press of W. Thomas Taylor in Austin, Texas.
The First African American Graduates of Perkins School of Theology
Originally exhibited April 28–August 21, 2015
Entry Hall
Introduction
On May 30, 1955 A. Cecil Williams, James V. Lyles, James A. Hawkins, John W. Elliott, and Negail R. Riley made history by becoming the first African Americans to graduate from Perkins School of Theology and Southern Methodist University. This sixtieth-anniversary exhibition highlights their accomplishments after seminary as distinguished church and community leaders.